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AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS

Name: AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS
Author: Michael R. Beschloss
ISBN: 0-316-10362-4

by Michael R. Beschloss & Strobe Talbott ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 24, 1993

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A vivid, behind-the-scenes examination of the close relationship between George Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev in the last scenes of the cold war. Seldom has recent diplomacy been described with the kind of depth provided here by Beschloss (The Crisis Years, 1991, etc.) and Time editor-at-large Talbott (The Master of the Game, 1988, etc.). With the help of unusual access so close to events—there are notes on closed-door meetings, negotiating sessions, and telephone calls, and just-after-the-fact discussions with diplomats (many of whom seem to bask in self-importance)—the authors show in almost day- by-day fashion how the US and Soviet governments moved from lingering suspicion to partnership in the ``new world order.'' Along the way, they reveal how, during the first six months of the Bush Administration, the Americans grumbled about Gorbachev's diplomatic grandstanding while the Soviets fumed over the mystifying ``pause'' Bush took before pursuing the diplomatic initiatives of Ronald Reagan; how Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze finally convinced an initially skeptical James Baker of his good faith in bargaining; how Bush and Gorbachev worked out their differences on German reunification and the Persian Gulf War; and how Richard Nixon received a warning of the abortive coup against Gorbachev several months before it occurred. While giving the American and Soviet leaders high marks for developing the trust that helped them end the cold war, Beschloss and Talbott also criticize their curious political tone-deafness (Gorbachev's shift toward the right encouraged Kremlin hard-liners to crack down on the Baltics, while Bush's concern for ``prudence'' made him prefer dealing with institutional leaders like Gorbachev and Poland's Gen. Jaruzelski rather than revolutionaries Lech Walesa and Boris Yeltsin). Despite the self-serving tone of many of the diplomats interviewed: a superb early take on a watershed period in diplomatic history.

Pub Date: Feb. 24, 1993

ISBN: 0-316-10362-4

Page Count: 280

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1992

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
PRESIDENTIAL COURAGE
by Michael R. Beschloss

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CONQUERORS
by Michael R. Beschloss

- BOOK REVIEW
THE CRISIS YEARS
by Michael R. Beschloss

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.